


the lure of adventure

by zach_stone



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventurer Newt, Alternate Universe, Hannibal Chau mentioned for like a second, Hermann whapping the crump out of some bad guys, Journalist Hermann, M/M, Treasure Hunting, inspired by the Uncharted games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-17 22:29:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15471519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zach_stone/pseuds/zach_stone
Summary: Newt is a reckless treasure hunter. Hermann is an intrepid journalist. On their search for some long-lost treasure, they run into a little more trouble than they bargained for.AU based loosely on the Uncharted video game series - no knowledge of the games needed to understand the fic!





	the lure of adventure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [decadent_mousse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/decadent_mousse/gifts).



> like most of my fics on here, you can blame/thank mousse for this one. i'm gonna be honest, i wrote most of this while half asleep so it's sure to be a wild time. tbh i wrote this bc i wanted an excuse to write hermann kicking ass against some baddies. enjoy!

The sun beat down from its peak in the sky, baking the jungle floor. Shoving his glasses up the sweaty bridge of his nose, Newt sighed in exaggerated despondence at the heat. It was nothing out of the ordinary for him — most of the ruins he found himself crawling through were in tropical climates. That never stopped him from bitching about it, though.

He paused in front of what appeared to be a solid wall of vines and reached into the back pocket of his jeans, retrieving his journal. It was cheap, worn-out leather that had permanent indents from where his fingers gripped it so often, but it was probably Newt’s most treasured item. Mostly because it held the key to finding _actual_ treasure. He flipped it open to the page where he’d taped in the map to the ruins, and confirmed that he was still going the right way. He hummed thoughtfully, drumming his fingers against the page.

Without looking up, he called, “You doing okay back there?”

From behind him, he heard the now-familiar grumbling and rustling as Hermann clambered through the jungle, knocking aside underbrush with his trekking stick. He’d swapped out his regular cane for something a bit more wilderness-ready, at Newt’s insistence. Newt could tell Hermann was close when the smell of sunblock and bug spray wafted towards him. He smiled to himself and turned around.

Hermann was wearing a ridiculous-looking safari hat, his polo shirt miraculously free of dirt or even so much as a wrinkle, and his video camera was slung securely across his chest. He looked so goofy, Newt couldn’t hide his wide grin.

“I’m perfectly fine, as I keep telling you,” Hermann said waspishly, pushing his hat up out of his eyes. He surveyed the vines in front of them. “What’s this, then? Is the path blocked?”

“I don’t think so,” Newt said. He beckoned Hermann forward, and the other man came to stand beside him. “I was just waiting for you to catch up for the big reveal.”

Hermann huffed out a laugh and hoisted up his camera, aiming it at Newt and pressing _record_. “Go on, then.”

With dramatic flair, Newt stuck his hand into the tangle of vines and swept them aside like he was pulling back a curtain. Even though he’d been _pretty_ sure of what was going to be on the other side, his breath still caught in his throat when he saw the ruins of the old fortress, overgrown and crumbling with age but _intact_. “Oh, holy shit,” he said.

“Language, Geiszler,” Hermann said reflexively, but Newt could hear the awe in his voice, and when he tore his eyes away from the find to look back at his companion, he saw that Hermann had lowered the camera slightly to gaze at Newt with unmistakable admiration. “You really found it.”

“ _We_ really found it,” Newt corrected. “Come on, I didn’t drag your ass all the way through this jungle for you to sell yourself short.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the fortress. “So, whaddya say? Wanna see what’s inside?”

This treasure-hunting _thing_ had been Newt’s and Newt’s alone ever since he was a teenager, too smart for his own good and with a thirst for adventure that went beyond the history books he devoured every chance he got. He’d gotten good at it, too — people underestimated him because he was scrawny and nerdy, but he was clever as hell and could talk his way out of almost anything. He’d never really… shared in an adventure like this. He hadn’t meant for Hermann to even tag along this far. Hermann was a journalist who had connections to a private collector with some crucial documents Newt needed to get his hands on; he’d managed to convince Hermann to help him out with the promise of getting him the story of his career. He’d sort of been planning to ditch him as soon as he got the intel, but Hermann was clever, too. And despite his leg injury, surprisingly quick on his feet. He’d caught up with Newt before he’d made it a block, almost clobbered him with his cane, and now they were staring at forgotten ruins that probably hadn’t been touched by a living soul in a couple centuries. Newt was grinning again, and was pleased to see Hermann was, too.

As they approached the ruins, Newt remembered he hadn’t told Hermann about the competition he had for this find. Hannibal Chau was a notorious black market dealer with a gang of mercenaries that had been tailing Newt for most of this particular excursion, but he hadn’t seen any sign them since before he met up with Hermann and the collector back in the city. He was fairly confident he’d given them the slip, but he’d never forgive himself if something happened to Hermann because of those guys.

“Y’know, we’re probably not the only ones looking for this treasure,” he said, aiming for casual as he rested his hand against the holster at his hip. “Things could get messy. Maybe you should hang back here.”

Hermann glared at him. “Don’t think you can get rid of me so easily, Newton. You’ve already tried that once and failed miserably, if you’ll recall.”

“Yeah, my shins are still hurting from you whacking the shit out of me,” Newt said with a wince. “I’m not trying to ditch you this time, dude, I swear. I’m just saying, treasure hunting might sound like a fun time when you’re in the comfort of a newsroom or whatever, but you have no idea what it’s like in my line of work.”

“I was a war correspondent for several years,” Hermann informed him coolly. “I assure you, I can handle myself.”

“Okay, okay,” Newt said. They stepped through the tall stone archway in the middle of the fortress’s outermost wall, which led to an overgrown courtyard. Newt paused again, referring to his notes. Hermann peered over his shoulder. After a moment, Newt tapped one of the marks he’d copied over from the collector’s documents. “There, see? This one matches the one above that door.”

“Good eye,” Hermann said, looking impressed. Newt preened a little, snapping the notebook shut with flourish.

When they reached the door, it was already slightly ajar. It could have been that way for centuries, but something uneasy settled in Newt’s stomach at the sight. He really wished Hermann wasn’t stubbornly insisting on tagging along. He didn’t need the guy’s kidnapping and/or death on his conscience.

“This is _fascinating_ ,” Hermann said, filming a close-up shot of the symbol above the door as Newt pulled it fully open. He swiveled the camera, and the shot lingered on Newt’s concerned face. “What’s the matter?”

“Huh? Oh, uh… nothing.” Newt stepped over the threshold into a long stone corridor, lit only by the sunlight coming in through the cracks in the ceiling. “Hermann, are you _sure_ you don’t wanna just wait here?”

“For God’s sake, Newton, what exactly do you expect to happen to me in there? Is the ceiling going to collapse on my head?” Hermann retorted.

“Hey, it’s happened to me before,” Newt said, turning around to give him a wide-eyed look. “I mean, I’ve been shot, stabbed, punched, kicked…”

“Yes, yes, I get the picture,” Hermann said, rolling his eyes.

Newt continued, undeterred, as they walked down the corridor. “...kidnapped, poisoned…”

“Poisoned?” Hermann repeated, eyebrows shooting up. “I don’t believe that. Who would poison you?”

“I’m telling you, it’s a dangerous line of work,” Newt said with a grin, hopping over a pile of rubble and offering Hermann a hand as he clambered over it. They’d reached the first door along the hallway, and Newt shoved it open with his shoulder as he spoke. “You never know when you’re gonna be…” He paused, taking in the sight on the other side of the door. “...ambushed,” he finished sheepishly.

Two extremely big, extremely angry-looking mercenaries were standing in the otherwise empty room, all muscles and scowls and stupid sunglasses. Chau’s men, no question about it. Newt heard Hermann’s strangled gasp of surprise from behind him, and plastered on a false, too-big smile.

“Whoops! Would ya look at that, wrong room,” he said, taking a small step back. He ended up stepping on Hermann’s foot. “Ha, sorry about that, fellas. We’ll just be… going…”

“Geiszler,” the one nearest to Newt growled. “Hannibal’s been looking for you, little guy. Thought you could give him the runaround, huh?”

“Newton, what is going on?” Hermann hissed from behind him. Newt stomped on the other man’s foot again, willing him to just stay quiet.

“Listen, Hannibal doesn’t even know what I’m after,” Newt said, holding his hands up disarmingly. “It’s nothing he’d be interested in, it’s not worth all this fuss. Certainly not the trouble of explaining a high-profile journalist going missing.” He’d backed up enough that he could feel Hermann trembling behind him, could feel the frightened hitch in his breath at Newt’s words. Newt wished he could reach behind and give Hermann’s hand a reassuring squeeze, but he didn’t want to risk looking like he was making a grab for his gun.

The mercs were apparently unphased by Newt’s words. “You think Hannibal doesn’t know how to make people disappear?” one of them said with a sneer. “Besides,” he added, giving Hermann a quick once-over, “I don’t think anyone’s gonna miss this one.”

“Hey!” Newt snapped, startled by how instantly furious this made him. “Don’t fucking talk about him like that —”

“I’ve had enough of this,” the first merc said, and he grabbed Newt by the shirt collar and yanked him forward. Newt heard Hermann exclaim, “Newt!” and then yelp in surprise as the other merc had grabbed him.

“Hang on, Hermann!” Newt said, dodging a swinging fist and kneeing his attacker in the groin. The mercenary groaned, but his other hand was already swinging to slap Newt in the face so hard that his glasses went flying off. “ _Ow_ , what the — those were expensive, asshole!”

Out of the corner of his now-blurry vision, he saw Hermann grappling with the other mercenary, using his trekking stick to keep the man at bay. Newt felt a strange surge of pride. Then the merc loomed over him again and Newt, in a fit of overconfidence, reeled back and punched the guy as hard as he could in the nose. The merc’s sunglasses broke and fell from his face as he stumbled backwards, clutching his now-bleeding nose. Newt also stumbled backwards, cradling his arm to his chest because he was pretty sure he’d just broken every bone in his freaking hand. “Mother _fucker_!” he shouted.

“Newton, for God’s sake! You have a _gun_!” Hermann yelled at him.

“I _know_ , Hermann, I was trying to —” But before he could start bickering with Hermann like they weren’t in the middle of a brawl, the mercenary recovered from being socked in the nose and lunged forward, wrapping his meaty hands around Newt’s throat.

“How’s it that a pipsqueak like you is so much goddamn trouble?” he growled, fingers squeezing as Newt gasped for breath. “Hannibal told us to take you alive, but I’ve had just about enough.”

Newt kicked out, trying to hit the guy in the crotch or the stomach or _anywhere_ , really, but he was holding Newt out and away from his body, and Newt’s head was swimming, he could hardly think —

 _Whack!_ Something hit the merc over the head so hard that he let go and hunched over in pain, and Newt crumpled to the ground, wheezing. He felt a hand hook under his armpit, and then Hermann was yanking him to his feet. Newt, still reeling, pulled out his gun and after a split-second hesitation, brought the butt of it down on the top of the merc’s head, knocking him unconscious.

For a moment the two of them just stood there, Newt struggling to catch his breath. He realized he was still missing his glasses and scooped them off the ground. One of the lenses was spiderwebbed with cracks. Now that he could see properly, he glanced behind him to see the other mercenary in a crumpled heap on the floor, out cold. There was a welt on the man’s forehead that looked suspiciously like it had come from Hermann’s trekking stick.

“Are you okay?” Newt asked finally, turning to Hermann. He took in the sweaty, disheveled state of Hermann’s hair — his hat had been knocked off during the scuffle — and the split in his lip. Newt could only imagine he looked just as bad; he could feel a cut on his cheekbone oozing blood where the mercenary had slapped him. Not to mention his poor, throbbing hand.

“Yes,” Hermann said, his eyes darting from the unconscious figure in front of them to Newt’s face and back again. He leaned heavily on his trekking stick. “Newton, _what_ was that about? Did you know they would be here?”

Newt cringed. “I didn’t… _not_ know,” he admitted. “Look, I thought maybe I’d lost them, okay? I told you that you should’ve waited out there!”

He expected Hermann to start screaming at him, but instead the angry expression on Hermann’s face shifted into something between exasperated and almost amused. “Well you should be thankful I didn’t,” he pointed out. “You were in a bit over your head, I’d say.”

Newt gaped at him. “Hey, buddy, I get out of situations like this all the time! I — I was distracted, alright, if you hadn’t been trying to tell me how to fight —”

“Oh, I _do_ apologize, I hadn’t realized I was so _distracting_ to you,” Hermann quipped.

Newt thought about the way he’d felt when he saw Hermann holding his own in the fight, and he found himself saying, “ _Extremely_ distracting.”

God, was he flirting? He couldn’t remember the last time he’d flirted with someone for real, instead of feeding them a line to schmooze information out of them. He was kind of awful at it. Luckily for Newt, Hermann was into it, if the faint blush that tinged his cheeks was anything to go by.

“Well, we can’t have that,” Hermann said, stepping closer. He brushed one thumb gently under the cut on Newt’s face. “Newton, you’re bleeding,” he murmured.

“Whatever,” Newt said, and then he grabbed Hermann’s collar and pulled him in for a kiss. Hermann’s lip was still bleeding, and he could taste the coppery tang of it on his tongue, but Hermann had a hand against the back of Newt’s neck and was kissing him just as eagerly. They were both still adrenaline-high from the fight, sweaty and buzzing with victory.

When they finally pulled back, Newt laughed slightly. They stood there grinning dopily at each other for a moment, and then Hermann glanced away and said, “Should we perhaps do something about our friends here?”

“Oh shit, right,” Newt said. “See, this is what I’m talking about — distracting.”

Hermann rolled his eyes, though he looked fond.

Together, they bound the two unconscious men’s hands and feet so there was no chance of the mercs following them. Satisfied with their work, Newt gingerly flexed his sore hand and turned to Hermann.

“Come on,” he said with a smile. “I think I promised you a good story. Ready to find that treasure?”

**Author's Note:**

> i know nathan drake has no qualms about killing his enemies, but it just didn't feel like newt's style. 
> 
> anyway, thanks so much for reading this nonsense! comments always so appreciated! find me on twitter @hermanngottiieb and tumblr @joshuawashinton. also, if you happen to like uncharted AND pacific rim too, please befriend me bc those are my two favorite things in the world


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